The "southeastern Europe" lineage of the brown dog tick () identified as Koch, 1844: Comparison with holotype and generation of mitogenome reference from Israel.

The brown dog tick () in the southeastern Mediterranean region and the Middle East is difficult to identify due to the presence of multiple mitochondrial DNA haplogroup lineages. The purpose of this study was to clarify the identity of the "southeastern Europe" lineage of this tick species complex. Our research shows that female ticks of the "southeastern Europe" lineage correspond to the morphology of Koch, 1844 as found in type-material at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in Germany. We characterised the complete mitogenomes of , Pomerantsev, 1940 and (Latreille, 1806) in order to improve our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among species within the () complex. The material associated with the morphology of was previously labelled as the "southeastern Europe" lineage and found in Israel and Egypt, including Lower Egypt and the Nile Delta, where the original type-material was collected. Based on the morphology, genetic identity, and geographical distribution of the species, we conclude that the name is correctly linked to the "southeastern Europe" lineage of ().